Björkander, Johan

Abstract [en]

This examination paper is about educational drama and is implemented from a participant oriented perspective. The main purpose of this study is to find out what conceptions and experiences the children actualize when participating in educational drama exercises. The reason why I choose to write about this subject was because of my own fascination and experiences of participating in drama exercises. On account of my further profession as a teacher, I want this study to take direction in school.

The theoretical frame in this examination consists of literature that describes educational drama as a subject. I also present and discuss some earlier research in this area. At last I describe four educational drama-exercises and explain the purpose with its work.

The empirical base of the study consists of qualitative interviews and observations in two fifth grade classes somewhere in the middle of Sweden. As a methodical starting point three educational drama exercises were created and carried out. The exercises were about conflicts that could appear in the children’s everyday school reality.

The results show that there are different aspects of what the pupils gave their attention to in the work with the exercises. My conclusion is that one conception is directed at the drama itself, one conception is directed at role-playing, one conception is directed at solving the problems in the exercises and one conception is directed at the emotional part of the drama.